Disclaimer: I do not own Cal Leandros.

Warnings: Cal's bad language

Author's Note: It's been a really long time since I've written anything. Sorry about that. This summer was really busy, with moving in to a new apartment and work picking up. I was also being extremely lazy and had no willpower to write. Anyway, here is the next part of this two shot. I hope you enjoy it. With out further ado, Pounding On Glass 2

Cal could smell them leaving, their stench finally exiting the room. They were covered in a un-human scent that made him nearly gag and reminded him that they weren't human, or at least spent a lot a time with something unworldly, which creature he had no idea. He bit a groan, as the bruises, that those creatures had so much fun inflicting on him, were made known. There was a dull thudding in the distance. At first he thought it was his heartbeat, but it was too irregular to be his heart. There was also a muffled voice that went along with the pounding. He knew that voice. It was a voice that was with him ever since he was born.

It's Niko, his concussed mind reminded him. He struggled a bit against the ropes that bound him the chair. Ironically, it was the ropes that also kept him from falling to the ground. The pounding had continued and had in fact increased its tempo. Leave me alone Niko, I want to sleep, Cal thought. The pounding still continued. Annoyed, Cal opened his eyes intent on glaring at his brother. Everything was blurry at first but after blinking several times the world came in to focus. He spotted his brother and tried to give him a smile but it came out as more of a grimace. In his mind he was able to look straight at his brother and formulate some sort of plan, but in reality the darkness that had threatened his vision since the beatings started won, and Cal slipped into unconsciousness.

For Cal, waking up came in stages. First was smell. It was always smell, from the sent of Niko's soy waffles in the morning, to the musk of gun oil forever permeating his room, smell dragged Cal from sleep. Next was noise; whether it was from the loud noises of the city or the soft rustle of blankets, noise was the next unwilling step towards consciousness. The final step was actually opening his eyes. It was the one step Cal loved to ignore as he tried to go back to sleep and somehow skip the early morning run, which wasn't often.

This time waking up was different. Instead of the gradual steps towards awareness, Cal was flung from step one, smell, to full consciousness. The side of his face throbbed from the bruises he received from the monsters as his eyes locked on to Niko.

"Hey," he rasped out knowing his voice wouldn't reach his brother's ears. He coughed, spitting out blood. Through blurred vision Cal could see Niko mouthing something to him. He tried to focus on his brother's mouth but he couldn't focus enough. There was dull thud that kept him from falling back into the darkness that had been threatening his vision. The thuds increased in tempo when he started to list to the side. Even through the glass and muddled fog of his mind, Cal could still hear Niko's muffled voice. He had no idea what his brother was saying but he could still hear him.

Cal felt himself blink a couple of times as he tried to fight the desire to fall to sleep. He was almost there when he took a sharp breath in. The monsters were coming back.

"I smell them, the fuckers are coming," Cal mouthed to his older brother. Cal hated this. Being tied to a chair, unable to do anything but get pounded. He hated seeing his brother so upset. Cal could tell that this was slowly killing Niko. Fuck, Cal thought, if only I had a knife. Then it dawned on him. He did have a knife, one that the monsters failed to notice. It was hidden in his boots still strapped to his feet. He caught his brother's eye and gave him a smile.

Cal knew that his brother would kill him if he knew what he was planning. But it had to be done. They couldn't stay in the room forever; they had a job to do and monsters to kill. And that couldn't be done if they were both stuck in a room. He saw his brother protest from behind the glass but Cal gave him no mind. As the monsters entered the room he gave Niko one little signal about what he was going to do; he glance down at his boots. Even through the glass, Cal could hear his brother. It was as if the glass wasn't even there.

The monsters surround him, blocking his view of his brother. He struggled against the rope that restrained him, as he tried to get his knife free. In one motion he cut through the rope and attacked the monster closest to him. He was able to slash the monster's throat before the others could react. Even then it wasn't enough. The monsters were stronger then he thought and found himself out matched.

One monster grabbed his knife and yanked it out of his hand. Oh fuck, Cal thought feeling detached as he watched his own knife slide into his chest with a sickeningly soft thud. He couldn't hear anything beyond the blood rushing through his veins. Not Niko's pounding, not the men he was fighting; the only thing he heard was the blood rushing through his body and out the stab wound. He kept fighting though. Even as he fell to the ground and was kicked repeatedly by the monsters, he kept fighting. It wasn't until a well-placed kick to his head that stunned him did he stop.

The monsters left as soon as he stopped, like he wasn't even worth their time anymore. He lay there, weak in his own blood. He could still hear the pounding though. He turned his head towards his brother; it was about the only thing he could do. He coughed up blood. Must have nicked a lung, Cal thought. He looked up at his brother who was still kneeling there, pounding on the glass to get to him. He studied his brother. His braid was a mess, his hands were bruised and bloodied from pounding on the glass, and his face was etched with horror. Cal knew only he could make his brother look like that, only him. Sorry, Cal wanted to say, sorry for making you look like that. But he could only gasp on air.

"Niko," he murmured, his own voice barely making a sound. He stretched a hand out to his brother. Cal knew it was futile but he wanted to hold his brother's hand one more time. His eyes blinked a couple of times, trying to get rid of the encroaching darkness but the darkness still remained. The darkness wasn't all that bad. It reminded him when he hid under the covers with Niko when they hid from Sophia's wrath. He felt himself slowly relax. Strange, Cal thought, I thought I heard my name being called, and then he surrendered to the darkness.

End

This is the end of this little two shot. Go ahead and make up your own ending. Maybe Robin bursts in at the last second and saves everyone with a lot of comforting and feels, or maybe Cal's dead and Niko goes on a murder/suicide spree.

Either way,

Keep on reading,

Fatcat.